Highest ratedPro photos
4 hTour with a Pro Photographer
★ 4.8 · 446 reviews
- A photographer travels with the group
- Portraits under the aurora, included
- Viking costumes for the pictures
- Free cancellation
$155$38.75 / hour
Check availability→ With a photographer
Northern lights photography tour: the highest rated aurora trip in Reykjavik
A northern lights photography tour from Reykjavik costs $155 and is rated 4.8 across 446 reviews — the highest score of any aurora tour in the city. A professional photographer travels with the group, and the portraits under the aurora are included in the price rather than sold afterwards.
Why photographs are the problem
A phone will not do what you want
You cannot take this picture of yourself.
The aurora is faint and it moves. Getting a picture of it needs a long exposure, which needs a stationary camera, which needs a tripod. Getting a picture of you in front of it needs all that plus a flash balanced against a three-second exposure, in the dark, with a subject who has to stand still.
Modern phones do a surprisingly good job of the first task. They do not do the second at all, and the second is what people actually want.
That is what this tour sells. A professional with the right gear, a spare pair of hands, and the experience to set it up quickly in a group of twelve rather than eighty. The photographs are handed over afterwards and they are part of the ticket, not a shop at the end.
Is it worth double the coach?
Depends entirely on what you came for
At $155 it costs about twice the coach. It is not buying you a better sky, and it is honest to say so.
What it buys is the small group and the flexible guide that come with any decent minibus tour, plus photographs you could not otherwise get. If the pictures are the point of the evening — and for a lot of people they are — then it is the best value on the page, because the alternative is a phone shot of a grey smudge.
Its 4.8 rating is the strongest evidence here. Aurora tours are rated harshly, because a blank sky costs a star through nobody’s fault. A 4.8 in this category means people who saw very little still felt they got something.
Northern lights photography tour at a glance
- Price
- $155per person, four hours
- Rating
- 4.8 · 446 reviewsthe highest here
- Photographer
- Travels with the groupnot an add-on
- Portraits
- Includedyou in front of the aurora
- Costumes
- Viking outfits availablefor the pictures
- Group
- Smallso the guide can move
- Free repeat
- Yesif the aurora does not appear
- Cancellation
- Free to 24 h
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The tours
Everything on this page in one place.
Our top pickSmall group
4 hPremium Small-Group Tour
★ 4.4 · 3126 reviews
- Small group, not eighty people
- The guide can change plan when cloud moves
- Free repeat trip if you see nothing
- Free cancellation
$94$23.50 / hour
Check availability→ 
Small groupHot cocoa
4 hNorthern Lights Minibus Tour
★ 4.6 · 722 reviews
- Minibus, so the route is flexible
- Hot cocoa and Icelandic pastries
- Photos taken by the guide
- Free cancellation
$157$39.25 / hour
Check availability→ Before you book
Six checks that apply to every aurora tour
- Book the first night of your stay
Almost every operator rebooks you free if the aurora does not appear. On the last night that promise is worth nothing.
- Read the group size
“Small group” is not a regulated term. Look for an actual number.
- Find the pickup point
It is a numbered bus stop, not your hotel door, and they do not wait long.
- Dress for standing still
Thermal base layer, windproof outer, hat, gloves, proper boots. The wind chill does the damage.
- Give your eyes twenty minutes
Coming off a lit street the aurora looks like grey cloud.
- Expect cancellations
An operator who runs on a hopeless night is selling you a coach ride in the dark. You are refunded.
Every trip, current fare
All nine tours
For comparison: everything that hunts the aurora out of Reykjavik.
| Tour | Time out | Price | Group size | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Lights Bus TourThe classic coach hunt, cheapest seat | 4 h | $71 | Coach, up to ~80 | $17.75 | 4.3 · 14,873 |
| Premium Small-Group TourSmall group, flexible route | 4 h | $94 | Small group | $23.50 | 4.4 · 3,126 |
| Northern Lights Minibus TourMinibus with hot cocoa and photos | 4 h | $157 | Small group | $39.25 | 4.6 · 722 |
| Tour with a Pro PhotographerA photographer travels with you | 4 h | $155 | Small group | $38.75 | 4.8 · 446 |
| Northern Lights Yacht TourOut of the harbour by sea | 2 h | $91 | Boat | $45.50 | 4.4 · 1,342 |
| Super Jeep Northern Lights TourOff the road, into the dark | 4 h | $196 | Super jeep, small | $49.00 | 4.2 · 157 |
| Lava Tunnel & Northern LightsLava tunnel first, aurora after | 4 h | $196 | Small group | $49.00 | 4.7 · 80 |
| Whale Watching & Lights ComboWhales by day, aurora by night | 6 h | $190 | Boat | $31.67 | 4.3 · 131 |
| Golden Circle, Blue Lagoon & LightsGolden Circle, Blue Lagoon and the aurora | 15 h | $319 | Coach | $21.27 | 4.7 · 261 |
Whatever you book, book it for the first night you are here.
When to come→Common questions
Northern lights photography tour, answered
How much is a northern lights photography tour?
$155 per person for four hours in a small group, with the photographs included.
Are the photos included in the price?
Yes. A professional photographer travels with the group and the portraits under the aurora are part of the ticket rather than sold afterwards.
Do I need my own camera?
No. Bring one if you want, but the point of the tour is that somebody else has the right gear and knows how to use it in the dark.
Will a phone photograph the aurora?
Reasonably well on night mode, and far better than your eye sees. What a phone cannot do is light you correctly against a three-second exposure.
Why is this tour rated so highly?
Aurora tours are rated harshly because a blank sky costs a star. A 4.8 across 446 reviews means people who saw little still came away with something.
Is it a small group?
Yes, which also means the guide can change destination when the cloud moves — the thing that most improves your odds.
Go deeper
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